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Staff Recommends

Alan D. I like to look at pictures. Books about art, architecture, photography, and design are my first love. When it comes to books without pictures, I want most to read about lives lived outside the mainstream, not to see how others live, but to gain greater understanding of how I’ve lived there, on the fringes.

Alex M.

Alison R. Some people like to read books that reflect their lives, but not me. I am always looking for the other, whether it be from another country, gender or time. Most of what I read is fiction. I need the tale to be well crafted and care given to the language. My favourite books are the ones that I argue with, just like my friends.

Brad J. Poetry is probably my deepest love, even if I do gadabout more with the likes of fiction and philosophy. No matter what I read, I tend to be most interested in how a writer is using language -- what they do with words and the spaces between them. There is, I find, often more poetry shacked up in the paragraphs of prose than at its home in verse. I love a good story as much anyone, but more importantly still are the worlds created in the telling of that story. One result of this is that I tend to err on the side of reading slowest the books I value the most.

Cameron C. My name is Cameron, and you ought to read what I read.

Cheryl R. Like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes, I have a tendency to re-read my favorites.

Chris P. A book is an entire world to me. I love those that can transport me, that can immerse me in some combination of dark and absurd, gritty and fantastical, insightful and mind-bending. But I also prize the economical use of language and the purity of a clean sentence. I firmly believe a good thought is ruined by poor prose.

Clare D. I read mostly children's books and lots of them. Everything from picture books to young adult novels, with an extended stay at middle grade fiction in between.

Joey P. The simplest thing to say is that I am a voracious reader. An average week of my reading goes through about two or three novels. Fantasy is my first love, of course, but I try not to limit myself to a single one thing. Anyway, here's some stuff I've read, loved, and want you to read, too.

John E. Alternating between poetry, science, history, fiction, cultural studies and spirituality with the occasional mystery or science fiction thrown in, eclectic is probably the best description of my reading.

John P. I love unreliable narrators, cross-genre experiments, and all things speculative. I'm particularly interested in books on typography and the history of printing.

Linda G. I'll try reading just about anything once, but fiction is my first love. Great character studies, alternating voices, complex narratives and a touch of metaphor make for me, the perfect reading experience. Oh, and a cat for the lap is the final touch!

Margaret S. Apart from Roaming the Sinai before Abraham, I am best known for my knowledge of children's books and contemporary literature.

Mia W. I like neither pina coladas nor getting caught in the rain, but am into yoga.

Michele T. Here are the books I love!

Pam S. It's difficult to remember a time when there weren't books and the love of them in my life. My greatest joy was the Christmas gift that I knew contained that new hardcover carrying with it its smell, feel and prospect of hours spent delving into some new and magical place.

As many know, DIESEL has always been a big fan of Don Winslow. It is a typical book industry puzzle that The Power of the Dog is not near-obligatory reading for nonfiction and fiction readers alike. It is an impeccably researched historical novel of the drug trade in the U.S. and Mexico. The Cartel brings the same brilliant writing, social analysis, and verisimilitude to the last twenty years of the drug wars.